CBA-backed mortgage broker Lendi lays off 100 staff

A firm backed by one of Australia’s major banks has cut teams and a range of roles as the overall economic situation worsens.

A major mortgage broker firm – that boasts backing from the Commonwealth Bank – has slashed 100 roles from its operations as home loan lending slows amid rising interest rates and falling house prices.

The brutal sackings at Lendi have hit both senior executives and more junior staff and also include roles at its Aussie Home Loans brand – with sources telling The Australian they were “cut that”.

Employees facing redundancy were asked to ship back their equipment at their own expense before receiving their payout and being reimbursed, according to the sources.

Lendi has experienced tough times with a $2.5 million loss for the 12 months ending June 30 recorded in statements lodged with ASIC, which was a huge jump from the $87,432 loss it suffered the year earlier.

Aussie Home Loans and Lendi merged in 2021. Picture: Supplied

High profile redundancies from the group include Queensland state manager Cameron Baseley, Victoria and Tasmania state manager Glenn Edwards, chief executive of lending David Smith, business strategy manager Liz Fowler and head of operations and non-mortgage lending Brett Graham, the newspaper reported.

Marketing, media and IT roles have also been cut while the Aussie Home Loans office in Parramatta has been shuttered, with Lendi acknowledging a change to its operating structure to “support the group’s growth”.

Lendi merged with Aussie Home Loans in 2021 and its chief executive David Hyman said a new structure had seen some operational teams slashed.

Lendi CEO David Hyman and co-founders Sebastian Watkins, Martin Lam, and Mark Kalajzich. Picture: Lendi via NCA NewsWire

However, he added that the company had increased staff numbers on a net basis by hundreds of roles since the two firms came together.

“While this has had an impact on some roles, the change has also opened up dozens of new roles across the group,” he said.

ANZ and Macquarie Group also own stakes in Lendi, but CBA is the biggest shareholder.

Locally other financial firms have also been making cuts as the economic situation deteriorates.

One of the big four accounting firms KPMG Australia had pinned 200 roles for redundancy after a drop in demand from clients due to worsening economic conditions.

Commonwealth Bank is major shareholder in Lendi. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

An Australian trading firm Akuna Capital – that paid starting salaries of up to $200,000 – slashed 11 per cent of its workforce, including recently hired graduates in January.

Fintech Finder also cut 15 per cent of its workforce with contractors, freelancers and permanent full-time workers all “impacted” earlier this year.

Internationally banks were also feeling the pressure of a troubled global economy with Goldman Sachs set to sack 3200 staff in one of its biggest round of job cuts in its more than 150-year history.

US bank Silvergate was forced to lay off hundreds of staff and sell off assets after it saw $US8 billion ($A11.6 billion) worth of cryptocurrency withdrawn by customers.